Wages or salary

For treatment of wages or salary when a client stops work and applies for a benefit see Jobseeker Support Employment ceased.

For other clients currently getting a benefit, income from wages or salary is charged over the period it represents.

How you treat income from wages or salary may vary depending on the type of employment, including part-time, full-time, casual or weekend work. Wages or salary can also include other payments such as:

• sick leave, family violence leave and long service leave
• holiday pay
• bonus payments
• redundancy payments
• severance payments
• non-taxable employment allowances
• Armed service personnel

The client needs to provide the following information in respect of their income from wages or salary:

• the amount earned before tax (the gross amount)
• the period the wages or salary represents and
• the employer's details

When a client is placed in employment by an employment agency, the client may be required to pay a percentage of their gross weekly income as a fee to the employment agency. The agency fee is not treated as income for benefit purposes and should be deducted from the wages.

Please refer to the appropriate benefit type for more information on charging income:

• Changes and reviews, Charging income in relevant Main benefit